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Marzonie MR, Nitschke MR, Bay LK, Bourne DG, Harrison HB. Symbiodiniaceae diversity varies by host and environment across thermally distinct reefs. Mol Ecol 2024; 33:e17342. [PMID: 38584356 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodiniaceae) influence coral thermal tolerance at both local and regional scales. In isolation, the effects of host genetics, environment, and thermal disturbances on symbiont communities are well understood, yet their combined effects remain poorly resolved. Here, we investigate Symbiodiniaceae across 1300 km in Australia's Coral Sea Marine Park to disentangle these interactive effects. We identified Symbiodiniaceae to species-level resolution for three coral species (Acropora cf humilis, Pocillopora verrucosa, and Pocillopora meandrina) by sequencing two genetic markers of the symbiont (ITS2 and psbAncr), paired with genotype-by-sequencing of the coral host (DArT-seq). Our samples predominantly returned sequences from the genus Cladocopium, where Acropora cf humilis affiliated with C3k, Pocillopora verrucosa with C. pacificum, and Pocillopora meandrina with C. latusorum. Multivariate analyses revealed that Acropora symbionts were driven strongly by local environment and thermal disturbances. In contrast, Pocillopora symbiont communities were both partitioned 2.5-fold more by host genetic structure than by environmental structure. Among the two Pocillopora species, the effects of environment and host genetics explained four times more variation in symbionts for P. meandrina than P. verrucosa. The concurrent bleaching event in 2020 had variable impacts on symbiont communities, consistent with patterns in P. verrucosa and A. cf humilis, but not P. meandrina. Our findings demonstrate how symbiont macroscale community structure responses to environmental gradients depend on host species and their respective population structure. Integrating host, symbiont, and environmental data will help forecast the adaptive potential of corals and their symbionts amidst a rapidly changing environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magena R Marzonie
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- AIMS@JCU, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Matthew R Nitschke
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Line K Bay
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- AIMS@JCU, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - David G Bourne
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hugo B Harrison
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- AIMS@JCU, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Huang Z, Feng M, Dalton SJ, Carroll AG. Marine heatwaves in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea: their mechanisms and impacts on shallow and mesophotic coral ecosystems. Sci Total Environ 2024; 908:168063. [PMID: 37907104 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) World Heritage Area and adjacent Coral Sea Marine Park are under serious threat from global climate change. This study used Daily Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Temperature (DOISST) data to identify major marine heatwaves (MHWs) that have occurred in this region over the last three decades (1992-2022). We then used Himawari-8 (H-8) SST data to map significant MHW events that occurred between 2015 and 2022. We investigated the mechanisms underlying the MHWs, assessed thier impact on shallow and mesophotic coral reef ecosystems and identified potential coral refugia. MHWs in this region have increased in frequency, intensity and spatial extent. El Niño, especially when it is in phase with positive Indian Ocean Dipole, was the key remote driver leading to intense MHWs. However, the more recent strong MHWs (e.g., 2017 and 2022) occurred in the abscence of these climatic events, signifying the impacts of long-term climate change and local drivers. We also found that reduced wind speed and shoaling mixed layer depth, often together with reduced cloudiness, were the main local drivers pre-conditioning these MHWs. Anomalous air-sea heat flux into the ocean, mainly controlled by shortwave solar radiation (cloudiness) and latent heat flux (wind), was the most constant contributor to the 2015-16 and 2019-20 MHW events. However, local oceanographic dynamics, especially horizontal advection and turbulent mixing, played important roles in MHW heat budgets. This study confirmed that shallow-water coral bleaching severity was positively related to the cumulative MHW intensity in the 2015-16 and 2019-20 MHW events. We identified shallow reefs along the path of the North Queensland Current as potential coral refugia from bleaching because of the cooler waters upwelled from the ocean current. We also found that, except during weather events such as tropical cyclones, mesophotic reefs in the Coral Sea Marine Park may be less susceptible to severe bleaching as the MHWs were more confined within the shallow mixed layer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhi Huang
- Oceans, Reefs, Coasts and the Antarctic Branch, Geoscience Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
| | - Ming Feng
- CSIRO Environment, Indian Ocean Marine Research Center, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Steven J Dalton
- Fisheries and Aquaculture Management, Department of Regional NSW, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Andrew G Carroll
- Oceans, Reefs, Coasts and the Antarctic Branch, Geoscience Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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Zhang S, Bai Y, He X, Yu S, Song Z, Gong F, Zhu Q, Pan D. The carbon sink of the Coral Sea, the world's second largest marginal sea, weakened during 2006-2018. Sci Total Environ 2023; 872:162219. [PMID: 36791862 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The latest reports show that the ocean absorbs approximately 26 % of anthropogenic CO2 and that the carbon sink of the global ocean (air-sea CO2 flux) is continually increasing, while variations in different marginal seas are complicated. The Coral Sea, the second largest marginal sea in the world, is characterized by a generally oligotrophic basin and borders the biodiversity hotspot of Great Barrier Reef. In this study, we proposed a semianalytical method and reconstructed the first high-resolution satellite-based pCO2 and air-sea CO2 flux dataset from 2006 to 2018 for the Coral Sea. This dataset performed well in the basin (RMSE<10 μatm, R2 > 0.72) and coral reef areas (RMSE<12 μatm, R2 > 0.8) based on validation by a massive independent dataset. We found that sea surface pCO2 is increasing (1.8 to 2.7 μatm/year) under the forcing of increasing atmospheric CO2, and the pCO2 growth rate in water is faster than that in the atmosphere. The combination of increasing sea surface pCO2, high pCO2 seawater from coral reef areas, and the low depletion capacity of the oligotrophic basin led to a gradual weakening of the carbon sink in the Coral Sea, with the 2016 carbon sink being 52 % of that in 2006. This weakening was more pronounced after strong El Niño events (e.g., 2007, 2010, and 2016), with the corresponding high SST and low wind speed further weakening the carbon sink. This understanding of the long-term change in the Coral Sea provides new insight on the carbonate system variation and carbon sink capacity evolution in seawater under increasing atmospheric CO2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China; State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China; School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Xianqiang He
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China; Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, China
| | - Shujie Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China; Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, China
| | - Zigeng Song
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China; College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Fang Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qiankun Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
| | - Delu Pan
- State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China; State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China
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Burn D, Hoey AS, Matthews S, Harrison HB, Pratchett MS. Differential bleaching susceptibility among coral taxa and colony sizes, relative to bleaching severity across Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea Marine Parks. Mar Pollut Bull 2023; 191:114907. [PMID: 37080018 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Climate-induced coral bleaching represents the foremost threat to coral assemblages globally, however bleaching susceptibility varies among and within coral taxa. We compared bleaching susceptibility among 10 coral morpho-taxa and two colony size classes relative to reef-scale bleaching severity at 33 reefs across the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea Marine Parks in February-March 2020. Colony size and bleaching severity caused the hierarchy of bleaching susceptibility among taxa to change considerably. Notably, massive Porites shifted from being among the least likely taxa to exhibit bleaching, to among the most susceptible as overall bleaching severity increased. Juvenile corals (≤5 cm diameter) were generally more resistant to bleaching, except for Montipora and Pocillopora colonies, which were more likely to bleach than adults (>5 cm). These findings suggest that colony size and reef-scale bleaching severity are important determinants of bleaching susceptibility among taxa and provide insights into possible shifts in the structure of coral assemblages caused by bleaching events.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Burn
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
| | - A S Hoey
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
| | - S Matthews
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
| | - H B Harrison
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - M S Pratchett
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
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Marzonie MR, Bay LK, Bourne DG, Hoey AS, Matthews S, Nielsen JJV, Harrison HB. The effects of marine heatwaves on acute heat tolerance in corals. Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:404-416. [PMID: 36285622 PMCID: PMC10092175 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Scleractinian coral populations are increasingly exposed to conditions above their upper thermal limits due to marine heatwaves, contributing to global declines of coral reef ecosystem health. However, historic mass bleaching events indicate there is considerable inter- and intra-specific variation in thermal tolerance whereby species, individual coral colonies and populations show differential susceptibility to exposure to elevated temperatures. Despite this, we lack a clear understanding of how heat tolerance varies across large contemporary and historical environmental gradients, or the selective pressures that underpin this variation. Here we conducted standardised acute heat stress experiments to identify variation in heat tolerance among species and isolated reefs spanning a large environmental gradient across the Coral Sea Marine Park. We quantified the photochemical yield (Fv /Fm ) of coral samples in three coral species, Acropora cf humilis, Pocillopora meandrina, and Pocillopora verrucosa, following exposure to four temperature treatments (local ambient temperatures, and + 3°C, +6°C and + 9°C above local maximum monthly mean). We quantified the temperature at which Fv /Fm decreased by 50% (termed ED50) and used derived values to directly compare acute heat tolerance across reefs and species. The ED50 for Acropora was 0.4-0.7°C lower than either Pocillopora species, with a 0.3°C difference between the two Pocillopora species. We also recorded 0.9°C to 1.9°C phenotypic variation in heat tolerance among reefs within species, indicating spatial heterogeneity in heat tolerance across broad environmental gradients. Acute heat tolerance had a strong positive relationship to mild heatwave exposure over the past 35 years (since 1986) but was negatively related to recent severe heatwaves (2016-2020). Phenotypic variation associated with mild thermal history in local environments provides supportive evidence that marine heatwaves are selecting for tolerant individuals and populations; however, this adaptive potential may be compromised by the exposure to recent severe heatwaves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magena R. Marzonie
- Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- Australian Institute of Marine ScienceTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- AIMS@JCUTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Line K. Bay
- Australian Institute of Marine ScienceTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- AIMS@JCUTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - David G. Bourne
- Australian Institute of Marine ScienceTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- College of Science and EngineeringJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Andrew S. Hoey
- Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Samuel Matthews
- Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Josephine J. V. Nielsen
- Australian Institute of Marine ScienceTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- AIMS@JCUTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary SciencesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Hugo B. Harrison
- Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- Australian Institute of Marine ScienceTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- AIMS@JCUTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
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6
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Lowe JR, Payet SD, Harrison HB, Hobbs JPA, Hoey AS, Taylor BM, Sinclair-Taylor TH, Pratchett MS. Regional versus latitudinal variation in the life-history traits and demographic rates of a reef fish, Centropyge bispinosa, in the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks, Australia. J Fish Biol 2021; 99:1602-1612. [PMID: 34331333 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Environmental temperature is an important determinant of physiological processes and life histories in ectotherms. Over latitudinal scales, variation in temperature has been linked to changes in life-history traits and demographic rates, with growth and mortality rates generally being greatest at low latitudes, and longevity and maximum length being greater at higher latitudes. Using the two-spined angelfish, Centropyge bispinosa, as our focal species, we compared growth patterns, growth rates, longevity, mortality, asymptotic length and maximum length across 22 reefs that span 13° of latitude within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) and the Coral Sea Marine Park (CSMP), Australia. We found no predictable latitudinal variation in mortality rates, growth patterns, growth rates, asymptotic or maximum length of C. bispinosa at regional to biogeographic scales. However, C. bispinosa consistently exhibited reduced longevity at lower, warmer latitudes within the CSMP. The greatest differences in mean maximum length of C. bispinosa were between continental (GBRMP) and oceanic (central CSMP) reefs of similar latitude, with individuals being larger on average on continental versus oceanic reefs. The lack of predictable life-history and demographic variation in C. bispinosa across a 13° latitudinal gradient within the CSMP, coupled with differences in mean maximum length between continental and oceanic reefs at similar latitudes, suggest that local environmental conditions have a greater influence than environmental temperature on the demographic rates and life-history traits of C. bispinosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake R Lowe
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Samuel D Payet
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hugo B Harrison
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jean-Paul A Hobbs
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Andrew S Hoey
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Brett M Taylor
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Morgan S Pratchett
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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Payet SD, Lowe JR, Mapstone BD, Pratchett MS, Sinclair-Taylor TH, Taylor BM, Waldie PA, Harrison HB. Comparative demography of commercially important species of coral grouper, Plectropomus leopardus and P. laevis, from Australia's great barrier reef and Coral Sea marine parks. J Fish Biol 2020; 97:1165-1176. [PMID: 32785930 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the spatial and environmental variation in demographic processes of fisheries target species, such as coral grouper (Genus: Plectropomus), is important for establishing effective management and conservation strategies. Herein we compare the demography of Plectropomus leopardus and P. laevis between Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), which has been subject to sustained and extensive fishing pressure, and the oceanic atolls of Australia's Coral Sea Marine Park (CSMP), where there is very limited fishing for reef fishes. Coral grouper length-at-age data from contemporary and historical otolith collections across 9.4 degrees of latitude showed little difference in lifetime growth between GBRMP and CSMP regions. Plectropomus laevis populations in GBRMP reefs had significantly higher rates of total mortality than populations in the CSMP. Mean maximum lengths and mean maximum ages of P. laevis were also smaller in the GBRMP than in the CSMP, even when considering populations sampled within GBRMP no-take marine reserves (NTMRs). Plectropomus leopardus, individuals were on average smaller on fished reefs than NTMRs in the GBRMP, but all other aspects of demography were broadly similar between regions despite the negligible levels of fishing pressure in the CSMP. Similarities between regions in growth profiles and length-at-age comparisons of P. laevis and P. leopardus suggest that the environmental differences between the CSMP and the GBRMP may not have significant impacts on lifetime growth. Our results show that fishing may have influenced the demography of coral grouper on the GBR, particularly for the slower growing and longer lived species, P. laevis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel D Payet
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jake R Lowe
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Morgan S Pratchett
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Brett M Taylor
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, The University of Western Australia (M096), Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Peter A Waldie
- The Nature Conservancy Asia Pacific Resource Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hugo B Harrison
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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